Is this junk food?
The guacamole is a lightly salted mixture of avocado, lime juice and fresh tomato.
The cheese is King Island Surprise Bay Cheddar.
The meat sauce was made with twice-cooked beef brisket, onions, tinned beans, tomato passata and a couple of bishops’ crown chillies from our garden.
And the corn chips? They were homemade!
We began by making a batch of corn tortillas the day before. These were sliced into wedges…
…and deep-fried in hot oil. We didn’t salt them, but they were delicious nonetheless – it was hard to resist snacking on them as they cooled…
So…perhaps not the healthiest meal we’ve ever prepared, but there weren’t any preservatives or highly processed ingredients involved. If food processing is a ladder with raw ingredients at the bottom and supermarket cakes at the top, I think we managed to hover around the first rung.
Definitely not junk food!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Awesome, I would feel no guilt whatsoever eating that! :)
Sue, we didn’t! :) It was really nice to think the corn chips had been a bag of flour on our kitchen bench the day before.. ;-)
Ooh scrumity! I would be happy to have a double portion, guilt free.
:-) Mandy
I would have loved a double portion, Mandy! The boys didn’t leave any.. ;-)
That looks great and certainly not junk food..
Thank you! It’s definitely something we’ll make again! :)
Absolutely.. there is nothing remotely “junk food” about this dish.. I’ve got a hankering for some of those chips now.. and it’s only 9:30 in the morning here, lol! xo Smidge
Smidge, it’s never too early for corn chips! Hahaha…I hope my Pete doesn’t read this, he wouldn’t approve.. ;-)
I don’t think JUNK should be used to describe FOOD, anyway. There are foods that are high in fat and salt and low in protein,vitamins and what all- but if you mix them up together and don’t eat just one type of food then you and doing good.
And this? This looks very good! :)
Heidi, I don’t think “food” should be used to describe some of the things that are sold for people to eat! :)
Have you ever read Twinkies, Deconstructed? It’s an intriguing read. Have a look at Dwight Eschliman’s website – he photographed the 37 ingredients that go into making a Twinkie…
http://eschlimanphoto.com/twinkie/
And here’s the Newsweek photo: http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2012/05/05/what-s-in-a-twinkie.html
Delicious! That would be a very welcome treat at this house!
Thanks Abby! :)
There’s a balance isn’t there? After all many foods are processed. Cheese-making is a process – but the difference between a hand-made, artisan product made from unpasteurised milk from local cows (fed on grass) and the thin sheets of plastic which are described as cheese, is a million miles. I like your kind of junk food Celia :)
Sally, yes indeed, which is why I said we hover around the first rung. We made tortillas from masa flour and turned them into corn chips. But we didn’t grow the maize, harvest it, grind it or process it into masa in the first place. The beans came out of a tin, the cheese is effectively value-added milk.
I try these days to use the words “highly processed food” instead of “processed food” because as you say, just about everything we eat short of raw greens has been processed in some form or another!
I absolutely love nachos, and homemade corn chips sounds perfectly wonderful. Yum!
Misk, I probably should try baking them or something in future, but for a first attempt, we got deepfrying! :)
I’m super-impressed Celia. What a great idea. I’m sure these would have had an amazing flavour. And your meat sauce with the twice-cooked brisket and your bishops chillies just sounds so wonderful. What a great meal to enjoy in front of the rugby! xx
Thanks Charlie! The meat sauce was great – we had it on tortillas the day before, and we still have some leftovers. I’m going to try making tamales next.. ;-)
So not junk food Celia! In fact, I think you’ve inspired our dinner for Sunday night on the couch with a movie :)
Perfect for this sort of weather, Becca, and gluten-free to boot! xx
That’s my kind of junk food. It looks delicious Celia.
Thanks Barbara! It was fun to make – I’m not sure whether we’ll ever go back to buying corn chips now!
Sounds absolutely delicious, Celia!
Lizzy, it was, thank you! What time should I expect you? ;-)
Home made Mexican food is nothing but delicious and healthy. Well done! yummm (and being Mexican, I should know ;)
Maria, now that makes me very happy, thank you!
Wow Celia that looks fantastic. Definitely not junk food. I think I’ll be making my own corn chips this week. Will wasn’t too keen on the idea of a tortilla press (will have to sneak that one in) but I’m sure I could make them with my pasta roller. Yum!
Claire, I think they might work even better on the pasta roller! You’d get them even thinner then – ours were quite chunky…
Looks like a splendid meal, and “junk food” is the last term I’d use for it! Love the idea of home made corn chips, but I’m very doubtful of how many would actually make it to the table if I were cooking them.
Amanda, thank you, and it was a struggle to get any onto the plate as it was, they were very moreish.. :)
you had me at “corn chip” :)
Hehehe…as the jingle goes, “you can’t say no..”
Celia it’s cold and wet, and I think anything less than nachos for dinner tonight would be just disappointing!
Yum!
Brydie, hasn’t this weather been appalling? I managed to sneak out into the garden briefly yesterday, but it’s been bucketing down ever since!
Oh boy, favourite food. I think I ate corn chips three meals a day when I was at uni. I don’t deep fry much but I am going to try making my own. May have to do some searching for the flour though.
Liz, corn chips and crisps are my one remaining “junk” food weakness, I can’t keep them in the house because I find them irresistible! Like you, they were staple fare at uni! :)
Celia, I knew your chapatti press would get a wonderful workout, so many lovely treats………never junk food in your house!
Elaine, we do get a bit carried away sometimes. :) And we’re stuck indoors this weekend because of all the rain, so we’re playing. I think I’d like to try chapattis next, still haven’t got there yet!
There is nothing bad or junky here. made with love and care and fresh ingredients
http: http://www.mykitchenstories.com.au
Thanks Tania! x
Definitely not junk food! And how clever to make your own – I do like them but rarely buy them as all I seem to taste are the chemicals used to make them.
Claire, I have to admit, the older and fussier I get, the more I can taste the additives as well. Which is probably a good thing.. :)
We had nachos for dinner on Friday and they hang their head in shame at the deliciousness of yours. Your nachos are full of win! :-) Maz
Nah…I’m sure yours were magnificent! :)
i have to say celia, those nachos are a fantastic idea, everyone here would just gobbled them up.. I am sure they long for the supermarket variety that i refuse to buy! c
Celi, I’m sure there’s some clever way to bake the tortillas into corn chips, I just haven’t figured it out yet. I reckon you’d love these! :)
Anything made at home with love is not junk food.
Thanks Norma! :)
I have bought flour tortillas and oiled and baked them on a stone and used them with dips but sadly my corn tortillas have always ended up too thick. Thin enough and they break before I can fry them. I have no idea what I’m doing wrong. I even had that electric tortilla maker sent from the states and that’s even worse, they explode. lol
Your corn chips look perfect!
Maureen, our corn tortillas are quite thick too (although they’re as thin as the press will get them) and we end up with chunky corn chips, but they’re very nice nonetheless. Exploding tortillas! Too funny.. :)
My friend Becca makes her tortillas in the sandwich press, which I think is a brilliant idea!
Yum Celia…what a great idea for the tortillas. This looks delicious and certainly not junk food!
Thanks Jane! The kids loved them! :)
Definitely not junk food :)
Thanks Tandy! :)
yum! I would have a whole batch all by myself. delicious and smart.
Thanks Barbara! I had to stop myself eating them all… :)
Definitely not junk food! Especially since it doesn’t have that glowing orange cheese powder on it too! :P
You’ll laugh Lorraine, as they were cooking, I said to Pete, “hey, why aren’t they going yellow?”.. :)
Not even in the same neighbourhood as junk food! That’s just a wonderful combo of homemade treats. I’m a little bit afraid of deep frying (never sure what to do with all the oil afterwards!) so I wonder how these would turn out if you brushed them with oil and baked them instead?
SK, we recycle our oil – filter it and reuse it at least a couple of times. Of course, we don’t use the oil we’ve fried fish in to then fry doughnuts. ;-)
I think they’d probably work fine brushed with oil and baked – must try that next! Thanks! :)